1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a response apparatus that notifies a user or a manager of a change in the state of the apparatus and of the occurrence of an event, and a method therefor.
2. Related Background Art
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a conventional functional arrangement.
In FIG. 1, the statuses of system external machines, such as a printer and a facsimile machine, and the status of an apparatus itself are acquired by a status acquisition unit 11. The acquired status information is referred to by a response content selection unit 12, and a response content is selected. Then, the selected response content is output by a response content output unit 13.
As a conventional example, a response apparatus for displaying the status of a printer for a user, and a method therefor will now be described.
FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing all the processing performed by the prior art.
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing example response content definition information that is referred to in the prior art to define the meaning of each state of a printer, and an output character string transmitted as a response.
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example response output for the prior art.
When a system employing the conventional technique is activated, first at step S20 response content definition information is initialized to a value shown in FIG. 3. At step S21, the status acquisition unit 11 acquires a printer status indicating the status of the printer, and stores it as status information. At step S22, the response content selection unit 12 acquires an output character string associated with the stored status information by referring to the response content definition information in FIG. 3, and stores the output character string as response content information. The response content output unit 13 then displays the obtained response content information in a window in FIG. 4. Thereafter, program control returns to step S21 and the above process is repeated.
Next, a response apparatus for notifying a user of the receipt of electronic mail and a method therefor will be described as another conventional example.
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the meanings associated with electronic mail status data, which are referred to in the prior art, and example response content definitions for state changes signaled by the production or non-production of a Beep.
The response content selection unit 12 acquires response content data that specify whether the Beep ON or the Beep OFF state corresponds to the status obtained by the status acquisition unit 11, and the response content output unit 13 actually sets the Beep ON or OFF (no processing) state.
However, in the case of an apparatus that displays printer statuses for a user, the user must actually look at a computer terminal to ascertain which status is being displayed.
Furthermore, since the momentary status of a printer is regularly displayed in a window, a user must pay the same attention to all responses, regardless of whether they are important, and may miss a very important response.
In addition, since even for a very important status notification the content of a response does not differ from that for a normal status, the importance of a response may not be readily grasped by a user. Also, since all statuses are displayed only by using a window, a user can not intuitively sense the importance of a status announcement.
On the other hand, although a special status announcement, such as “printer buffer abnormality”, is difficult for a user other than a printer maintenance man, etc., to understand, such special status notifications are displayed for all users. As a result, while the import of such a status notification may not be readily grasped by an ordinary user, a printer maintenance man may discount the importance of the announcement since it is also displayed for other, ordinary users, and may neglect to perform required maintenance.
A sensor may erroneously detect “toner running low” because of the surface attitude of the toner, even though plenty of toner remains. That is, since in actuality the remaining toner is not insufficient, the toner may thereafter be gradually reduced, or the surface attitude of toner may be corrected in some way. However, conventionally, even when no correction is required, a response is output upon the detection of the abnormality, so that a user must correct the abnormality while watching the toner as it is reduced.
In addition, a window display can be annoying to a user because as all statuses are shown, statuses that are not of interest to the user are also displayed. For example, in the definitions given under “Output character strings”, the column in the printer status table in FIG. 3, there is no big difference in the status expressions. The output character strings are so defined because for almost all users the importance of the statuses is not very different. For a user in charge of toner replacement, however, since to that user the statuses concerning toner are more important than any other status, the exaggeration of the responses for toner abnormalities is desirable. For a user other than a user in charge of toner replacement, statuses concerning toner need not be displayed, and no response is required.
In the case of the above apparatus for notifying a user of the receipt of electronic mail, a user does not have to watch a computer terminal, but must remain in an area within hearing range of a beeping sound generated by the computer terminal. Further, the only provided status constitutes a notification that electronic mail has been received, and when, as with printer statuses, there are a plurality of situations, such as what type of electronic mail has been received, it is difficult to describe the type of electronic mail that has been received using only a beeping sound.
As a result, a beeping sound is generated even for less important electronic mail, and the volume and the tone of the beeping sound does not differ, regardless of the importance of the electronic mail. A user must pay the same amount of attention to the receipt of all electronic mail messages, regardless of whether or not they are important, and may not realize that important electronic mail has been received.
Some systems not only notify users that electronic mail has been received, but also display in a window the subject of the correspondence. However, since the display format is the same regardless of the comparative importance of the electronic mail message, a user can not intuitively identify the important messages that are received.
Furthermore, as only an addressee is notified of the receipt of electronic mail, a person, such as a secretary, who is an agent of an addressee will not be aware that electronic mail has been received. And since a user is notified of the receipt of mail that an agent, such as a secretary, can handle, an extra load is imposed on a user.
As is described above in the prior art, since a response process suitable for the occasion is not selected, a response is output for every occasion. And since the content of responses does not change, a user may not be aware that a response is important. Furthermore, as in every case the same media is employed, a user may not be aware that a response is important, or a user who can not use the media will not receive the response. In addition, as in each case responses are provided for the same addressees, there will be users who receive unnecessary responses and users who do not receive necessary responses. Also, since for every event a response is output at the same time as the event is detected, there are more opportunities for users to receive unnecessary responses, and thus an extra load is imposed on the users.
Moreover, since the response to an obtained status is determined in advance for a system, the difference in the importance of the status to individual users can not be shown, so that a user may not be aware of an important response, and the inconvenience caused by the receipt of an unnecessary response can not be avoided.
In the case of the above apparatus for displaying the status of a printer for a user, the status of the printer is merely displayed for the user, and whether or not the user is aware of the import of the display, or whether or not the malfunction indicated by the displayed status is resolved is not taken into account. Therefore, the malfunction indicated by the status may not be resolved.
When, for example, paper runs out while reference material is being printed for use in a meeting, according to the prior art only the response “there is no paper” is displayed (FIG. 4). Since whether or not paper has actually been fed is not confirmed, in the worst case, immediately before the meeting a user may become aware that the reference material has not yet been copied.
In the case of the apparatus for notifying a user of the receipt of electronic mail, a user is merely notified that electronic mail has been received, and there is no provision for determining whether or not the user reads the electronic mail message. Thus, although the electronic mail is received, a user may not be aware that urgent mail has been received.
As is described above, in the prior art, since no consideration is given to whether or not a problem indicated by a response has been resolved, or whether or not a user confirms the response, no countermeasures can be taken when a user is not aware that an important response has been displayed.
In the prior art, since responses are issued even when users are not prepared to recognize or handle them, transmission of unwanted responses will occur and the taking of effective countermeasure will be delayed.